Julius Caesar

Hubris: excessive pride. Caesar had to go to the Capitol because he had too much pride. He did not listen to his wife when she was warning him that something bad might happen  because he was afraid he was going to be mocked.

Anagnorisis: Brutus never fully reaches recognition.  He somewhat realizes it when everyone sarts to die and gets in a war.

Perepetia: Brutus falls from his high place when he has to run out of the country because the Romans are against him because of Antony’s speech.

Hamartia: Brutus’s tragic flaw was being too honorable to achieve what he wanted.  He allowed Antony to speak at the funeral and then left during his speech.  He did not kill Antony.

Catharsis: This is an emotional purging of the audience.  When Titinius kills himself because his best friend Cassius kills himself, there is an emotional purging and the audience feels bad for him.

Group Work Questions for 12/2/05:

1.	How is the play’s theme developed by the actions of Cassius and Brutus in the final act?
Cassius kills himself because he thinks he has lost the war but in fact, Brutus was on the other side winning.
Brutus misconstrues things because it would have been better to live even though he would have been captivated, but he still kills himself.

2.	How does Brutus’ guilty conscience cause him to make a series of tactical errors that begin in act 4?
He felt guilty about condemning his whole army to death but in fact, he only wanted to kill Caesar.  He only wanted one death but because of his guilty conscience his whole army will die.